Closed for the holidays December 25, 2017 - January 1, 2018

The Polyester page also contains several miscellaneous materials including nylon peel ply, fiberglass mat, and dynel fabric, sleeve, and cord. | The WEST System Epoxy page also contains pigments and metal flake as well as a wide selection of fillers for resin.

Last Update: 18 June 2017

Kevlar® & Graphite Fabrics

Kevlar® Fabrics

Kevlar® is the registered trademark of E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. for their aramid fiber. Since DuPont is rather sticky about how their trademark is used, we will use the generic term “aramid” as much as possible. Aramid fabrics are used in the same way as fiberglass fabrics but they are lighter and have much greater toughness. All of our aramid materials are woven fabrics except style 4580, which is a felt. Style 500 is the standard boat material, which is custom woven specifically for us. It is used for many projects in addition to boats.

It is important to note that the fabrics listed on this page are for use in laminating with resins. They are generally not suitable for protective clothing or anything that is sewn together rather than laminated. This requires Kevlar® 29, which is a ballistic fabric, used for bullet-resistant vests, chain-saw chaps, etc. Ballistic fabrics typically have a much tighter weave than laminating fabrics. We do not sell ballistic fabrics. We do not sell yarn of any type. Please believe this notice. Do not contact us for information on any fabric other than laminating fabrics!!

Our primary source for aramid cloth is BGF Industries, though we do buy seconds from other mills such as Hexcel-Schwebel (HS). You may contact BGF for detailed information about their products. A Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS), covering all styles of aramid fabric, is available on line.

Most of the styles listed below are first-quality materials. The aerospace seconds that we have normally carried in the past have been difficult to get in the last couple years, so supplies are limited and noted in the price table. The defects are generally slight but all seconds are sold as-is, no warranty, no returns. Check our Fabric Information page for a more detailed discussion of the properties of these materials.

When we reach the end of a roll while filling a fabric order we must start a new roll and the order will be in two pieces. If it is essential for your project that you have a continuous piece of material you must tell us that when you order. Orders for five yards or less will always be continuous. For fabric orders over five yards there will be an upcharge of 5% to guarantee continuous material.

We stock the following styles of Kevlar fabric:

Style 4580 is the 3.5 oz non-woven felt typically used for canoe skid plates.Thickness of this material is difficult to assess. Visually it is ~100 mils but with a micrometer it is more like 20±5 mils due to the compression.

The small roll price generally applies to rolls less than 100 yd. Large rolls are around 100 yd or more.

Kevlar®

1-4 Yd

5-19 Yd

>20 Yd

Sm Roll

Lg Roll

500 Yd

1000 Yd

500-50"

24.00

20.00

19.30

17.70

17.00

16.30

15.70

500-58"

27.50

23.00

22.00

20.20

19.40

18.70

17.90

4580-40"

26.00

21.50

19.80

16.40

15.90

—

—

120-38" 2nds

20.00

17.00

16.00

14.00

13.50

13.00

12.00

120-38"

25.00

21.20

20.70

18.30

17.30

16.80

16.20

220-54"

33.00

27.00

25.70

23.65

22.70

21.75

20.90

281-38"

18.00

15.00

13.70

12.60

12.00

11.50

11.00

281-50"

25.00

21.00

20.00

18.20

17.40

17.00

16.20

281-60"

26.00

22.00

20.00

18.40

17.60

16.80

16.10

285-38"

18.00

15.00

13.70

12.60

12.00

11.50

11.00

285-50"

25.00

20.00

19.00

17.30

16.50

16.00

15.40

285-50" 2nds

20.00

16.00

15.00

14.00

13.00

12.60

12.30

285-60"

26.00

22.00

20.00

18.40

17.60

16.80

16.10

Graphite & Hybrid Fabrics

Style 94901 is by far the most popular plain-weave fabric for general use. Style 94933, shown above right, is similar to 94901 except that it is a twill weave, which is somewhat more pliable. Style 94905 hybrid is an equal mix of Kevlar® and graphite yarns, which, with the twill weave pattern, gives the material a yellow and black zig-zag pattern.

Click on the small image to see a larger version. These fabrics are highly popular for their cosmetic as well as their engineering properties. There is a brief description of the fabrics we carry, below. For more information on graphite yarn and fabrics, see our Fabric Information page.

Our primary source for graphite and hybrid fabric is BGF Industries, though we do use other mills for some materials. You may contact BGF for detailed information about their products. Material Safety Data Sheets for pure carbon and aramid hybrids are available on line.

When we reach the end of a roll while filling a fabric order we must start a new roll and the order will be in two pieces. If it is essential for your project that you have a continuous piece of material you must tell us that when you order. Orders for five yards or less will always be continuous. For fabric orders over five yards there will be an upcharge of 5% to guarantee continuous material.

The small roll price generally applies to rolls less than 100 yd. Large rolls are around 100 yd or more. In the case of style 1016, small rolls are 10 to 35 yd (when available) and large rolls are 45 to 50 yd.

Graphite

1-4 Yd

5-9 Yd

>10 Yd

Sm Roll

Lg Roll

500 Yd

1000 Yd

94901-50"

26.00

23.00

21.00

20.00

19.00

18.00

17.50

94933-50"

29.00

25.50

23.00

22.00

21.00

20.00

19.50

1016-1½"

3.00

2.50

2.00

—

1.48

1.44

1.40

94905-50"

38.00

34.00

31.00

30.00

28.50

27.00

26.00

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94956-58"

35.00

32.00

29.00

28.00

26.50

25.00

24.50

Graphite Sleeve

This is a tubular, braided sleeve made from 3K graphite yarn that can be used to make paddle shafts or any other sort of tubular form for which the size is appropriate. The photo at right shows it stretched to near-maximum width [left] and as it comes off the spool [right]. The flat width ranges from about 1.2 inches up to about 2.2 inches. It will accommodate tubes from about 0.75 inches up to 1.4 inches in diameter. The manufacturer’s specs list a weight of 8.3 oz/sq yd, a thickness of 13 mils, and a yield of 14 to 16 yd/lb. These numbers are for the material as designed and will vary depending on how much it is stretched. Prices shown are per yard. Full spools are at least 11 lb., priced by the pound.

The Polyester page also contains several miscellaneous materials including nylon peel ply, fiberglass mat, and dynel fabric, sleeve, and cord. || The WEST System Epoxy page also contains pigments and metal flake as well as a wide selection of fillers for resin.